Kendrick Castillo, who died in a school shooting in 2019 and whose cause for canonization has been opened in the Diocese of Colorado Springs. / Credit: Photo courtesy of John and Maria Castillo
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 13, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).
The Diocese of Colorado Springs announced it received a petition to open a cause for canonization for Kendrick Castillo, the lone fatal casualty after a shooting at a Colorado school in 2019, when the 18-year-old died after jumping into the line of fire to stop one of the shooters.
“Knowing Kendrick, we knew that that was something that he would do,” said his parents, Maria and John Castillo, in an interview with “EWTN News In Depth” this week.
“We’re so humbled and grateful,” John said about the opening of Kendrick’s cause for canonization. “It’s one of the greatest gifts that can ever be bestowed upon anybody. It’s just the sheer mention of sainthood. We always have felt … that since Kendrick was born, he’s been our saint. He’s worthy, and we believe that. But to hear it coming from our Catholic brothers and sisters and our families, it’s different and it’s more powerful.”
The priests in the diocese advocating for Kendrick’s cause believe that he qualifies for beatification in a new category called “Offering of Life.”
In a 2017 motu proprio, Pope Francis established a new category of Christian life eligible for beatification, recognizing individuals who died prematurely as a sacrificial offering of their life out of love for God and neighbor.
Since his death, there have been “numerous things that have taken place to honor Kendrick, and they’ve all been spectacular,” John said. “But this is on a level that is indescribable. It really is an honor, it’s humbling.”
Reflected on the kind of man his son was, John said: “Kendrick was joyful all the time. I don’t think there’s a picture [of him] that we have that doesn’t have a smile on it. He was just happy all the time. He loved life.”
“He made friends everywhere he went,” John continued, remembering a particular time when Kendrick was in preschool. “A child was being dropped off and was afraid to leave his mom for the day. Kendrick, as a little kid, went over and hugged him and said it would be OK and comforted him. That was just in his nature.”
At the public school Kendrick attended, “he took his Catholic faith and did what we’re asked to do as Catholics,” John said. He showed the “agape love that we should have for our savior. That’s what Kendrick did every day. I just wish people got to know his personality and see that.”
His son had a “willingness to live out his faith and help his community at church,” the elder Castillo said, recalling his service as an usher and altar server at Mass and funerals.
On the day of the shooting, Kendrick “risked his life to save others,” John said. “That was in Kendrick’s nature. We wish that he didn’t have to do that, of course. But in that moment, it wasn’t surprising to us that he would not run the other way [and] that he would defend the sanctity of life.”
Maria said she wants her son to be remembered for “his love.” She said: “He loved his friends, his parents, but most importantly, he loved God.”
Following recent shootings at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minnesota and Evergreen High School in Colorado, John offered consolation and wisdom to parents who have lost a child in such a tragedy. “My words to them would be: ‘Hold each other close.’”
“Remember what we’re called to do in faith and surrender to trust in the Lord,” John said. “God did not make this happen. Evil is real, and we can’t let evil divide us. We must comfort one another. We must try to seek viable solutions that are going to create safety for our families and our community … Reach out to one another and don’t let evil win and pull you away from anything that’s positive and God’s grace in our lives.”
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